


Lay Down Your Loyalties

by laclain



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (barely there) lotor, Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), M/M, Pining!Lance, dog!keith, druids are dicks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-06 02:04:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13401141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laclain/pseuds/laclain
Summary: The Blade gave him three simple rules to follow when meeting the druid;1. Don’t stare. At anything. Avoiding all eye contact is necessary, its is how she controls her victims.2. Never engage in her small talk. Words hold power.And the most important;3. Never, never, make her angry.What could go wrong?OR; Keith breaks every rule and ends up being transformed into a dog, for reasons.





	Lay Down Your Loyalties

**Author's Note:**

> Hey-yo. This is my first time writing and publishing fan-ficton online, this is un-beta'd of all mistakes are mine. Also I tried to post this ASAP so I didn't end up deleting most of it.  
> Rated teen+ for language (there's not much here but will in later possibly maybe i dunno) mentions of blood and violence toooooo.  
> Sit back, relax, have fun.

The Blade gave him three simple rules to follow.

  1. Don’t stare. At anything. Avoiding all eye contact is necessary, its is how she controls her victims.
  2. Never engage in her small talk. Words hold power.



And the most important;

  1. Never, _never_ , make her angry.



When Kolivan gave Keith his mission, he had felt fairly confident, itching to prove his worth after Naxzela. It had taken a few weeks for the whole fiasco of the mission to blow over. While no one knew of Keith’s near miss with death (beside the several rebel fighters and a destroyed Galran cruiser), the shocking appearance and ‘aid’ from Lotor was enough to send the Coalition into a tailspin.

It had taken several meetings with Allura and the other paladins to decide where to put Lotor. Meetings which Keith was allowed to attend but was dragged away after the swift conclusions from both parties, much to Keith’s annoyance. But even so it was good to see his old team again. He often managed to catch Shiro’s eye, which was returned with a warm and private smile, while Hunk, Lance and Pidge often tried their best at sending as many funny faces his way, probably trying to break his composure (but judging by the exasperated looks from Allura and the annoyed huffs from Kolivan, they weren’t doing a very good job at being subtle).

In the end it was decided that the once prince turned wanted criminal was a threat to almost all parts of the Coalition, but in the end was placed under the Blade’s protection.

Keith was more than glad to take up any mission that meant he would be able to leave the base, and - subsequently - Lotor duty. The guy was creepy. No fucking doubt about it. And Keith didn’t get that vibe from just anyone. The underlying, unknown motives and the cunning ‘I know something you don’t’ gaze put Keith on edge, and a hand over his knife.

But Lotor guaranteed his protection with information about the new breed of ion cannons the Galra were developing, nonchalantly dropping the name and last known location of a freelance druid, who in her prime knew her fair share about the corrupted quintesence and helped with the development of these cannons.

The location Lotor had given them led to a small trading planet, no bigger than earths moon, towards the eastern-most corner of the known galaxy. The planet shone a brilliant orange from the wide desert regions reflecting the light of its nearest sun it wove around. The planet was dotted with large trading villages on the bright side of the planet, while on the darkest side, where the sun was never able to face, was dotted with smaller colonies.

The druid lived on the very boundary of the light and dark sides of the planet, where the subtle shift of the planet gave ‘days’ that lasted years long.

As Keith flew closer and closer to his co-ordinates he could see a small shack standing alone, bathed in what seemed to be the dawn of a new day. A sunrise which would last three weeks at least.

Keith was glad he missed going in full day or night. He knew that even Red and Blue, who were built to survive crazy weather conditions, would have struggled with the blazing heat of the full sun, and the frigid icy winds of the darkest point. Keith was actually surprise to see such large colonies on either side of the planet. To be honest, he couldn’t really think of anything worse then being in the full brunt of the elements like that, and he lived in a shack in the desert for most of his life.

But when landing the large spacecraft, Keith felt a pang of longing for the Voltron Lions - the swiftness and agility or Red and the powerful, confidence of Black. The spaceship he borrowed from the rebels, was large enough to withstand the lengthy journey at lightspeed, but groaned and creaked to the adjustment of gravity, almost threatening to fall apart at the slightest gust of wind.

The ground of the planet was covered in a thick layer of orange dust, swirling and shifting constantly, like an ocean across the dry wasteland. Stepping out of the ship Keith realised that there was no wind across the plane, the sand moving in its own cosmic dance. He thought of how Pidge or even Coran would be itching to study and explain the natural phenomenon as he walked silently and alone down the walkway.

The shack the druid lived in reminded him of his own that he left on earth, but didn’t look nearly study enough to stand the extremes of the planet. The door swung freely on its hinges, and many of the windows were smashed or badly damaged, boarded up from the inside.

Keith made his way quickly across to slip through the swinging door. Inside it was unnaturally dark and cold. Broken furniture lay scattered throughout the room, and glass littered the floor boards. Across the room, a high backed chair faced one of the boarded up windows.

Keith carefully stepped forward, glass crunching underfoot, when a gnarled hand hooked itself over the chairs armrest. Keith’s hand twitched to his visor to change the glass to an opaque black before a cracking voice spoke from its seat.

“Oh, don’t bother with your helmet my dear, I wont move. You may take it off if you like, the air is quite stable.”

Keith hesitated, hand hovering over the controls. He didn’t want to remove his only defence against the druids ‘controlling eye contact’, but didn’t want to disobey the other rule and make the druid mad.

“A guest. How lovely. I haven’t had one in so long.” The voice was hoarse and croaky, but rang clear in the empty room. “Now tell me why you’ve come here this morning, you’re interrupting my beautiful sunrise.”

Keith’s gaze flickered towards the completely covered widow and he went to open his mouth to reply, before clamping his jaws tightly shut. _Does answering her questions mean she could control me?_ This whole situation was really confusing.

“Ah a stubborn one. You’ve been sent here by someone who knows much about me, yes?” The druid let out a low wheezing laugh. “Hm, never mind, I’ll find out myself.”

The hand lifted from its spot on the arm rest to waver towards where Keith assumed her face would be.

All of a sudden Keith fell to his knees with a gasp. He dimly felt shards of glass across his palms and knees but nothing compared to the tight constricting inside his head, almost as if the witch was grabbing large handfuls of his brain, to sort through his mind. “You’re hear to ask about the Galran war cannons. Hm, yes, they have caused a lot of trouble for you haven’t they. Prince Lotor! Theres a name I haven’t hear in years!” Another bout of wheezing came from the chair. “Captured by the Voltron and the Blade of Marmora!” The druid laughed harder until the wheezing turned into a hacking cough.

A cold dread washed over Keith when he realised how far deep into his mind the druid would be able to see, what if she found-

“Child, you need not worry about the Blade’s secret base, I have known its location for many years. If I had any ill-intentions, I’m sure I would have made myself known by now, yes?”

But what if she went deeper-

“I will only see what you want me to see. Or what you so blatantly project across the room.”

But-

“ _Enough!_ Ah, your mind is so young, you have yet to build any blocks in your mind, yes? I wish you had. You yell.” Keith felt a deeper rummaging in his mind, almost toward the back of his skull, this one more painful then before.

“You’re not just a normal child are you. Human and Galra, Paladin and Blade, Red and Black, lonely and reclusive, unloved but so desperately wanting to be loved. Hm, so many layers, yes?” 

The druid dug her claws in tighter, memories flashing in front of his eyes of the Blade of Marmora, Voltron, Earth, his father - pain and terror, screams over a com, despair, dread, a purple barrier raising up to meet him, one last thought of a flash of blue, mop of brown hair and a crooked smile.

Keith couldn’t help but let out a groan. “Stop.. Please..”

As quickly as it came, the pressure released itself from his mind, leaving Keith gasping and shaking on the floor. He could only glance back up to the chair to see the gnarled hand return to its spot.

“There we go. The young one breaks. Tell me who you are. _”_

Gritting his teeth Keith replied. “I am Keith Kogane, I am a Paladin of Voltron and Blade of Marmo-“

“Wrong.”

“I’m sorry?”

“You are wrong child.”

Keith glowered at the back of the chair. _I’m not a child. And I’m not wrong._

“Wrong again, _child_.”

With shaky hands, Keith took a deep breath before continuing calmly. “I’m sorry, but I think I’m gonna know whats right and wrong in my own life thanks.”

“Hm, you think you are what you are not. You are stretched between too many points.”

“I’m not sure I get what you mean."

“You are pretending to be many things, yes? It would be ideal, but for me to give you the information you need, I need to know where your loyalties lie.”

“I’m-“ _I’m Keith Kogane, past Paladin of Voltron, present Blade of Marmora-_

“Wrong.”

_I’m Keith Kogane. Half Galra- half human, part of the Coalition against-_

“Wrong.”

_I AM-_

“We can continue to do this all day Keith Kogane, or you can tell me the truth. Tell me where your loyalties lie.” The druid sounded increasingly angrier with each moment, but Keith still didn’t know what she wanted him to say. There was a scrapping of the chair across the floorboards. Keith could see the back of the druids head. Black matted hair fell down past her shoulders, a large robe or blanket wrapped around her side and one shoulder like a Roman robe, and weathered skin that looked like leather up a long ash grey arm and neck. He quickly squeezed his eyes shut, worried that the druid might turn around.

“I don’t understand! I’m telling you the _truth_.” Keith heard a rustle of movement coming from in front of him, and the crunching of glass as the druid stepped forward. “Why is it so important that you can’t accept what I’m saying?”

“Why? _Why?_ I have lived a long life, your short one is but a speck compared to mine. In my time I have seen many wars, and I might say I have not always chosen the easiest and painless pathways to achieve the goals for the greater good. I want to be assured that I know where my allies stand, and who they stand with. There may come a time in your precious Coalition where the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. My head may be on the chopping block in the years to come, I have much valuable information, but what is that compared to a few thousand lives. The Blade might agree with me, but your precious Voltron may argue otherwise. Pity”

Keith couldn’t hold back anymore. “Voltron is a protector of those who can’t protect themselves.” He spat. Quick as a viper, a hand snatches Keith’s hair, he hisses as his head is tugged back, tilting his head up towards the druid’s.

“Voltron is a force led by an incompetent group of children who believe that everything can be solved with the least amount of blood spilt! Sacrifices will be made, and battles will have to be purposefully lost! 

“So you will stand with the Blade but not Voltron.” Keith chuckled darkly. “You can’t have one without the other.”

Keith knew he’d done it now as the hand at his hair tightened making his eyes water. The other hand coming around to grasp at his wrist, squeezing until he heard a sickening crack, and the splash of droplets of blood on the floor. Over Keith’s yells the druid demanded, “Open your eyes. _OPEN THEM.”_

Against their own accord Keith found his eyes opening to see the witch’s face mere inches from his own. For a second Keith almost thought he’d gone blind - all he could see was a swirling grey orb in front of him, like what he might have thought a crystal ball would look like inside some sort of gypsy van. It took him a moment to realise that this ‘orb’ was a large pearly eye sitting in the middle of the druids wrinkled, leathery forehead. Where there would have been eyes on a human being were deep, empty sockets, still weeping with fresh blood. Keith’s stomach rolled as he fought the urge to throw up. The constricting pressure in his mind was back and matched the pain at the back of his scalp.

“Maybe you do not see which side you stand on. You see yourself as a neutral party, yes? It is not nearly the case.”

Keith tried to open his mouth to reply, to yell, to spit, anything, but no sound came out.

“What do you think of when you think of loyalty, hm?”

All of a sudden Keith was bombarded with memories and thoughts like snapshots that began sorting themselves out in his minds eye faster then he could hope to keep up with.

_A soldier, bearing a gun - brandashing a sword, slinking through a deserted town - forest undergrowth, approaching an armed terrorist hideout - an unarmed civilian village, holding up a gun - sword, ready to deliver the final blow - willing to do anything to prove their loyalty to the cause and to their country - their team -_

“Again.”

_A young man holding out his hand - his pinky finger - “a promise” - “you come back to me, you hear” - an orphanage - a schoolyard and cafeteria - a shuttle launch - “I’ll be back before you notice, be good” - heartache, lost - the same promise, different meaning - a promise to bring a brother back -_

“Again.”

_A father holding a young boy - sitting, passed out away from the - empty bottles, red string on pin boards - a lonely house - “you watch this shack Keith, its all we got” - a pinky promise - no a handshake - lonely, hot, humid, dry, dusty - alone - loyalty to a place and a person he couldn't even remember -_

“ _Again._ ”

_A dog - hiking with a man through the canyons - across walking tracks - in front yards, guarding empty houses - in purses and on designer leads - the stray, a familiar word, that a young boy fed once, who came back the next week - and the week after - and the week after that - until he stopped coming - pack, friend, soldier, family -_

“Hm. That will do.”

And everything went black.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr; [at la-clain](https://la-clain.tumblr.com)  
> or dont, thats okay
> 
> The druid ended up sounding like Tom Nook from Animal Crossing. UNINTENTIONAL I SWEAR
> 
> It would be amazing if you just could write a comment or give a kudos, I'm kinda stressing out over here  
> Stay safe, love you, bye.


End file.
